Beat Me To It
by TheLegendOfTheAvatars
Summary: Bolin and Korra have a little "talk", causing Korra to have mixed feelings. Borra. As requested, I have made/am making more chapters. Let me know if you like or want me to continue or not!
1. Chapter 1

**Beat Me To It**

"Korra? Are you awake?" Bolin asked softly as he opened the door to her room.

There on the bed was the Avatar, fast asleep. She hadn't even changed into her sleepwear.

_"She must have been really exhausted from practice today…"_Bolin thought to himself. He inched his way slowly towards the sleeping girl. He could see how at peace in mind and body Korra was by the way her mouth was agape and saliva was about to dribble down her face. Bolin smiled; he thought of how beautiful she looked while sleeping despite how unfeminine it was.

"Korra…" Bolin whispered. He reached out to touch her cheek but stopped himself. Korra never knew how badly he had wanted to touch her, to hold her. Every day, even at practice and at matches, Bolin's eyes never trailed far from Korra. They watched out for her, longing for her every second. But he always noticed that Korra's eyes only watched Mako.

Bolin clenched his fist. "_Why? Why does it have to be Mako?"_He drew back his hand and turned when Korra suddenly grabbed his wrist. Bolin turned to her in surprise.

"Don't go…" Korra mumbled while still asleep. "Mako…" She flopped over on her other side.

Bolin's heart dropped at the sound of his brother's name, but he didn't care right now.

"I'll pretend you didn't say his name…" Bolin said as he sat himself beside her body. He placed his hands on either side of her head, cushioning his hands on her pillow. He was only inches from her face. Bolin swallowed hard; he could hear his heart pumping faster with every beat. "_What am I doing?"_ He thought to himself. "_What if Tenzin walks in? Or worse, Mako?"_

With his face burning up, he leaned forward and kissed her. Her lips were soft against his, and Bolin's head began to feel strange and light, but he didn't want to pull away just yet. He wanted more. He pulled away for a moment to catch his breath and then leaned forward again to kiss her forehead and then her nose.

Korra sighed and turned her head the other way, Bolin panicking momentarily. But the Avatar did not stir from her sleep. Bolin then kissed her lips again.

Korra giggled. Bolin dug his face into her dark-skinned neck, taking in her scent. She smelled like the oceans and like…home? Memories of his mother and home-cooked meals flooded his head.

Tears began to form in his eyes, and Bolin began to cry. He cried into Korra's neck, but he didn't care if she would wake up from his shaking body or from his tears. He just wanted to stay like this a bit longer.

"Bolin…?" Korra spoke weakly, waking up. Bolin knew that at any moment Korra could fling him backwards and yell at him, asking him what in the world he was doing, but she didn't. Instead, he felt a gentle hand cupping his head and another on his back.

"Hey, Bolin, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine." Korra's soft voice was soothing to hear.

Sniffling, Bolin raised his head from Korra and looked down at her. A single tear drop fell from his eye. Korra smiled, looking at him with those beautiful blue eyes of hers. She reached with her fingers and wiped away Bolin's tears.

"Korra, I–I love you," Bolin stammered. "I've loved you since the first day I met you."

"…I know," Korra said.

"And I know…that you love Mako, but I just want you to know…that I would do so much more for you than Mako ever would. I would do _anything_ for you. I would risk my life to fight Amon for you. I would give up my earthbending if it would guarantee your safety. I would give up everything for you, Korra. Everything…"

"I know that, Bolin," Korra said as she held Bolin's hot face in her hands, looking straight into his forest green eyes. "But I don't want you to. I don't want you to give up anything for me."

"But why? Why Mako? He doesn't even love you. He loves Asami! He doesn't care about you!" Bolin began to cry again, tears falling down his face. He looked away from her; he couldn't face her anymore.

Korra held his face in her hands and looked into his green eyes with such intensity that Bolin wanted to break away from her gaze. But he couldn't. He was too transfixed by her eyes.

"I know. I know that he doesn't love me back. But is that stopping you, Bolin? Will you stop loving me because I don't love you back? You're going to keep trying. You're going to keep fighting to get me to love you back, aren't you? If you want me so badly, beat me to it. Make me love you before I make Mako love me."

Bolin stared at her with wide eyes. The smile on her face seemed to be too cruel, but Bolin knew that those lips formed a smile of hope. He still had a chance, and he sure wasn't going to give it up to Mako. No, this chance was his-and his only.

Bolin quickly pulled himself off of Korra and the bed. He wiped away his wet streaks and his leaking nose.

"I'm not going to lose to you. I'm going to make you mine. I'll definitely master the art of lovebending and make you fall for me!" Bolin shouted.

Korra laughed. Bolin never failed to say something cheesy.

With one swift movement, Bolin thrusted himself into her, pushing her back towards the headboard, where she was trapped by a kiss.

"I'll make you fall for me-_hard_," Bolin said with a devious smile. Korra only sat there with surprised eyes, unable to move by the sudden kiss.

Then Bolin turned, filled with strength and hope. As he left the room, he passed his older brother, Mako.

"Yo, Bolin. Wait…what are you doing coming out of Korra's room?" Mako asked while pointing towards the room.

"Oh, nothing for you to know, big bro," Bolin said, smiling. "But there's one thing that you should know. Mako."

"What's that?" Mako asked, suspicious.

"Better start planning your marriage with Asami soon," Bolin said as he began to walk away.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough, _bro_." Then with a wave of his hand, Bolin disappeared down the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Bolin walks slowly into the kitchen. He walks in to find the Avatar making herself something.

"Korra! Hey, you're up early." Bolin says, happy to see her. She was making herself breakfast. Bolin didn't know what it was. He was guessing some sort of water tribe food. She turns around, surprised.

"Oh hey Bo. You hungry?" She says, gesturing to her breakfast.

"Uh…no thanks. I'm not hungry." He says, sitting down at the table. Korra follows, sitting next to him for once. She immediately digs into her "soup". He wanted to ask her so many questions. Why did she like Mako? What did she see in him that she didn't see in himself? How could he make her fall for him instead?

"So, Korra, what do you-" Bolin stopped. Mako walked into the room, still a little sleepy. He sits down across from Korra.

"Hey Mako. Sleep well?" Bolin says, trying to act like nothing happened last night. The memories of last night began to flood his head all over again.

"Umm…yeah. I guess. Hey, speaking of last night, why were you in Korra's room?" Mako asks Bolin, who becomes suddenly nervous. Bolin scratches the back of his head.

"Oh, you know…just wanted to clear up some things.." Bolin says, avoiding eye contact as he trails off.

"What kinds of things?" Mako says, pushing the question. He gives Bolin a long, hard stare, waiting for an answer.

"We were-" Bolin begins, but Korra cuts him off.

"Chill, Mako! Can Bolin and I _not _have a conversation together? Why do you care anyways? _You_ don't care about anyone but yourself!" Korra says harshly, getting louder with each word. Bolin looks up at Korra, amazed at what he just heard the Avatar say. He then turns his head to look at his brother, who is looking at the Avatar, also in shock at what she just said. There was a long moment of silence.

"Sorry. I just didn't know…" Mako trails off, a bit embarrassed.

"Good." Korra says, getting up from the table. Without looking back, she gets up and leaves. Mako and Bolin both shoot each other a look, both not knowing what to say. Finally, Bolin speaks up.

"Told you." He said, a slight smirk on his face. He gets up, leaving Mako alone at the table.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Korra! Korra, wait up!" Bolin yells, running after the Avatar. He had followed her out of the kitchen, wanting to ask her what happened back there. _Why did she stick up for me?_ He thought. He continued to run after the Avatar, who was now running towards the Meditation Pavilion. He never noticed that he had followed her all the way outside.

Finally, he saw Korra slow her pace, walking into the Pavilion. She leaned up against the ledge, admiring the sunrise. Bolin slowed as well. He wasn't quite to the Pavilion yet, but he was close enough. He stood there, looking at the Avatar. _She's so perfect._ He thought. He admired her long brown hair, how the winter breeze flowed so smoothly through it. He noted how tough she was, how perfectly fit she was, so muscular yet still very feminine.

He blinked a couple of times, coming out of his trance before he walked slowly over to her. He stood next to her, just close enough to where their arms were just grazing one another.

He turned his head, looking into her eyes, and broke the silence, "Why did you stick up for me?" he asks. Korra turns to look at him.

"Why not?" she replies.

"Well, I don't know. I mean, you've always acted like Mako is your _dream guy_", he puts air quotes around the words 'dream guy', "and that he's the best thing that's ever happened to you." Bolin says, making a good point.

There was a small moment of silence before Korra began. "He doesn't need to know what goes on every single minute of your life. It just frustrated me how just because he's the older brother, he acts like he owns you. He acts like he can just order you around like you're his pet lemur." She said angrily, turning to look back out at the sunset.

Bolin didn't know how to reply. He followed her gaze and looked at the sunrise too.

Suddenly, Korra turns her whole body, now facing Bolin entirely. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have interrupted you like that. I'm probably just overreacting. It's just that I don't want you to get hurt, but Mako seems like the guy-" she begins, but Bolin stops her.

"Korra," he says, smiling. He lifts up her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"Why are you smiling?" she asks, wondering what was funny about this situation.

"Because you make me happy." He says, simply. He reaches down and grabs her hand. "You know, Korra, there's another brother who wouldn't do anything to make you upset." He said, trying to act like he knows what he's doing."And trust me, I think he's a lot cuter than the other one." He finishes, trying to add some humor.

Korra tries to hide her smile. She doesn't pull away when Bolin tightens his grip on her hand. Suddenly, he pulls her in, grabbing hold of her other hand. He ever so gently pushes her back out, then in, leaning her back. They both smile widely as Bolin brings her back up onto her feet. They stood there in silence, still holding each other's hands.

He wanted this moment to last forever. He didn't want to let her go. Ever. He didn't want this moment to end. But little did he know, neither did she.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

This time, it's Korra who enters Bolin's room. She opens the door little by little, trying not to wake the sleeping earthbender. But just before she reaches his bed. She turns around to close the door. She turns around to find Bolin sitting up on his elbows and rubbing his eyes.

"Korra? Is that you? What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Bolin asks.

"Well, I was just…looking for a bathroom and…guess I got lost. I was just leaving..." she says, pointing towards the door.

"No wait!" Bolin says, a little more enthusiasm in his voice this time. "Stay." He says, scooting over and patting a spot on the edge of the bed.

'Well, if you insist." She says, smiling. She walks over and sits next to Bolin.

"So, what's the _real _reason you came in here?" Bolin asks.

"Honestly, I don't know." Korra says, looking down. "I don't know about anything anymore. I'm so confused. I thought I knew what I wanted, but now I just don't know anymore." She says. As she finishes, Bolin notices a single tear fall down her cheek, hanging onto her chin for a split second before it lets go, landing silently on her shorts.

"Hey, it's okay. Everything's going to be okay." Bolin says softly.

She turns to look at him. "But how? How do you know that? How do you know that everything is just going to magically turn out fine?" she says. More tears begin to stream out of her eyes as she finishes. Suddenly, she throws herself into Bolin's arms, and begins to cry. Bolin wraps his arms around her, embracing her, holding her. He pulls her in closer and hugs her tighter.

"Hey, Korra, shh, I'm here for you." he whispers, digging his face into her neck. It hurt Bolin to see her in this much pain and sadness. Tears begin to fall from his face. He sniffs, trying to hold them in. Korra pulls away, looking at him.

She wipes her eyes. "Why are you crying?"

"Because it hurts to see you in this much pain." He says.

A very faint smile begins to form on Korra's lips. "You really care about me, don't you?" she asks. He looks down, nodding slowly.

She reaches out and cups his face in her hand, pulling it up so that their eyes meet. Bolin finds a huge grin across her tear-stained face.

"Why are you smiling?" he asks.

Korra pulls her hand away from Bolin's face. "Because I'm not confused anymore." She says. Before Bolin can speak, she leans in, pushing her lips against his. Bolin cups her face in his hands, embracing her. Korra wraps her arms around his body, never realizing how much bigger he is than her. Finally, Bolin slowly pulls his lips apart from hers. He slowly pulls his hands down from Korra's face. They both sit there in silence for a while before Korra gets off of the bed.

"I should try and get some sleep.." she says, walking towards the door, "I'll see you in the morning." She opens the door.

"Hey, Korra" Bolin says before she closes the door.

She pokes her head in, "Yeah?"

"I beat you."


End file.
